Mullah Fazlullah’s video throws into question whether peace talks will take place; Chief of the Army Staff meets with ISAF commander, Afghan counterpart in Kabul to discuss border security and cooperation during Afghanistan’s run-off elections; High Commissioner in New Delhi invites Narendra Modi to visit Pakistan; Chinese tourist kidnapped in Dera Ismail Khan, TTP Shehryar Mehsud faction claims responsibility for kidnapping of Chinese tourist; IED blast damages school in Peshawar; Bomb blast in Balochistan damages train tracks; Three TTP militants arrested in Karachi; Pakistan will increase military, nuclear funding for 2014-2015 fiscal year; White House says CIA will not use vaccination campaign in its operations; FBI agent arrested in Karachi leaves country after case against him is dropped; Refugees from North Waziristan agency in Afghanistan hoping to return soon.
TTP Peace Talks
-
According to a Tuesday article in The News, the video released by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Emir Mullah Fazlullah on Sunday has thrown into question whether the planned talks between the TTP and government-nominated negotiating committees will take place later this week. The article stated that it will be even more difficult for the government to pursue dialogue if the TTP is divided into two groups, one that supports peace talks and another that opposes them. Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, voiced a similar concern on Friday, stating that infighting within the TTP has had a negative impact on peace talks.[1]
Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations
-
On Monday, Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif visited Kabul to discuss border security arrangements between Pakistan and Afghanistan following the U.S. and ISAF withdrawal with his Afghan counterpart, General Sher Muhammad Karimi, and ISAF commander General Joseph Dunford. The two military leaders agreed to enhance existing coordination and improve liaison and communication efforts between the two countries. General Sharif also guaranteed Pakistan’s support to help with security during the presidential runoff elections between Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani on June 14th.[2]
Indo-Pakistan Relations
-
On Monday, Pakistan’s High Commissioner in New Delhi, Abdul Basit, reiterated Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s invitation for presumptive Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Pakistan, saying that “we are ready to host Narendra Modi when he decides to visit Pakistan.” He added that he hopes the Pakistan and India normalize relations.[3]
Militancy
-
On Monday, a Chinese tourist named Hong Xu Dong was kidnapped in Dera Ismail Khan while participating in a cycling tour of the country. A militant commander, Abdullah Bahar, told the Express Tribune that the tourist would be held hostage until his group’s prisoners were returned. On Tuesday, the Sheharyar faction of the TTP claimed responsibility for the Monday kidnapping of a Chinese tourist from Dera Ismail Khan.[4]
-
On Monday, security forces defused an improvised explosive device (IED) in Segram Killay, Swat district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[5]
-
On Tuesday, police shot and killed a militant in Swabi, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The attacker opened fired at the main gate of the Shah Mansoor Police Lines, injuring one policeman on guard.[6]
-
On Tuesday, an improvised explosive device (IED) blast damaged a school on Peshawar’s Ring Road.[7]
-
On Tuesday, an IED blast killed one person and injured another on Sui-Dera Bugti Road in Balochistan.[8]
-
On Tuesday, a bomb went off near train tracks in Dengra, Bolan district, Balochistan. Trains travelling to and from Quetta were delayed, but no casualties were reported.[9]
-
In an interview with The Express Tribune published on Tuesday, Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Malik Baloch urged Baloch separatist groups to “revisit their approach,” saying they have “given the Baloch people nothing save death and destruction.”[10]
-
On Tuesday, Rangers personnel arrested three TTP members in the Quaidabad area of Karachi.[11]
Domestic
-
According to a Monday article in Defense News, Pakistan will increase funding for the military and its national nuclear body, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). The budget for PAEC will increase from $63 million to just over $81 million for the 2014-2015 Fiscal Year. The budget increase is reportedly geared toward civilian power generation, but there are still financial allocations for the Khushab Nuclear Complex, where Pakistan’s “fourth plutonium production heavy water reactor is reportedly nearing completion.” Air Vice Marshal Arshad Qudoos told the Senate Committee on Defence that additional funds were required for the acquisition of a new weapons system, adding that the current defense budget only maintains current military installations. Additionally, one analyst commented that the budget increases could also be because the Army and Air Force have asked for additional funding for a potential North Waziristan operation.[12]
-
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held a high-level meeting with the Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, the Interior Minister, the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of General Staff, and the Director General of Military Operations to discuss national and regional security concerns, and to review the targeted operations in Karachi. Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif also briefed the leaders on his talks yesterday with NATO and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commanders in Kabul.[13]
-
On Monday, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, Caitlin Hayden, stated that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) will not use undercover vaccination programs in its future operations. Public health officials have lambasted a previous CIA-run vaccination campaign in Pakistan designed to help find Osama bin Laden as having damaged the credibility of health workers operating in unsafe environments.[14]
-
On Monday, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Joel Cox left Pakistan to travel to Dubai after criminal charges against him were dismissed by a Karachi court.[15]
-
According to a Tuesday report in The News, about 100 families that fled Sherkhel, North Waziristan agency after a curfew was imposed are hoping to return from their current location in Gurbaz district, Khost province, Afghanistan.[16]